Latinas/os (or Latinx) are now the largest ethnic minority group in the United States. Combined, they have been credited with swaying marketing trends, popular culture, and local and national elections. Yet, most professions are scrambling to find individuals with the cultural competencies to respectfully engage and understand Latinx communities. This class offers such skills and information for students interested in careers in health, education, law, media, business, and politics. It offers an interdisciplinary and practical approach to the study of Mexican-American (Chicana/o or Chicanx), Puerto Rican, Cuban-American, Dominican-American, Central American-American, and other U.S. Latin American communities in the United States. Students understand not only the interconnections among these diverse communities but also the differences that sometimes divide them.
Course Requirements:
Class participation, two exams, a short midterm paper, and a longer final research paper. Testing for this course will be asynchronous and will consist of short answer and essay questions that will be submitted via Canvas during a designated time frame. There will also be two essay assignments that will be submitted via Canvas.
Intended Audience:
This class is geared toward undergraduate students who are interested in diversity, race and ethnic studies, histories of inequalities, migration, social justice, Latinas/os, and the nation's changing demographics.
Class Format:
The weekly lectures for this course will be recorded and made available asynchronously. We will also have weekly discussion sessions led by GSI that require synchronous participation. The professor will also hold live open office hours weekly for students to ask questions and discuss materials. The professor will also allow time for private virtual office hours.This course will use Canvas for all asynchronous online components and BlueJeans or Zoom for synchronous online components. Students should have access to an internet-connected computer, camera and microphone.